A Statement by the One Democratic State Initiative
January 16, 2025
It is with immense relief that we in Gaza, the rest of Palestine and the Palestinian diaspora welcome the lull in the ethnic razing imposed on our people, as well as the expected withdrawal of occupation troops from the Gaza Strip and the freeing of Palestinians from the colony's prisons. Over the past 15 months, we have endured near hourly bombing, sniping, starvation, deportation, detaining, as well as the destruction of critical infrastructure in terms of safety, healthcare, power, water, sanitation and others—all hallmarks of genocide. Our martyrs number by the tens of thousands and may exceed the 100,000 mark, while our wounded may number in the hundreds of thousands. And up until the last hour of the lull, our people's resistance continued, inflicting near daily losses on the occupying army and no doubt affecting the terms of the deal. Meanwhile, neighboring Lebanon and Syria, both part of the Al-Sham region of which Palestine is an organic and historic part of, have also suffered the occupation and devastation of the Zionist war machine, as they have since 1948.
The loud and violent live-streamed genocide may have ended, but the intent is still there. In the eyes of Zionism, violence is a tool in the hand of a settler colonial project. In our eyes as well, stopping the genocide is not the end goal. If we do not defeat the root settler colonial project, its next chapters will be just as ugly. As a settler colony, Israel is based on three foundations: (1) throwing and keeping the indigenous out, (2) bringing settlers in to supplant them, and (3) treating everyone there differently—All three being imposed on the basis of identity. For the ethnic razing to come to an end rather than a lull, all three aspects of settler colonialism must be dismantled. The settler state that defines itself as "exclusive to the Jewish people" must be dismantled and replaced with its exact antithesis: one Palestinian state for all of its citizens. This vision will not only save Palestinians: it will also save the Jews that the Zionist project has used and put in the line of the resistance's fire to colonize Palestine by offering them the choice to transition from settlers to citizens.
This puts upon the Palestinian people, anti-Zionist Israelis, those directly affected by the existence of the colony in our region, and those who stand with us in Arab and non-Arab countries, the heavy responsibility of keeping up the fight until the genocidal settler colonial entity is dismantled. In practice, this means that first and foremost, all so-called “solutions” that seek to accommodate any of Zionism’s three foundations —be they two states, binationalism, confederacy, seeking equal rights or ending apartheid within the colonial structure, or others— must be dropped. The original Palestinian vision for One Democratic State from the river to the sea must be revived and made prominent in our discourse, and all of our efforts —be they armed resistance, direct action, boycott and divestment efforts, media and cultural warfare, political lobbying, lawfare or others— must be centered on it.
Second of all, the failure of Palestinian and allied efforts to stop the genocide must be the object of non-judgmental yet serious and critical examination. As we cherish these moments of temporary peace, we must make sure we drop old recipes and learn from mistakes and shortcomings. In addition to failing to adopt a long-term vision for liberation, shortcomings include demanding the “Palestinian Authority” and Arab regimes to take a stand against the genocide instead of organizing to challenge them; believing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s triumphalist discourse such as the “unity of fields” and adopting its identitarian discourse that reflects Zionism’s politicizing of identity instead of challenging it; failing to properly coordinate efforts to face the wave of normalization in Arabic countries and Zionist hasbara in the “West” and among the settlers themselves; and choosing independent activism or solidarity groups over organizing in political movements that align their vision and coordinate their efforts.
Accordingly, the One Democratic State Initiative calls on all —particularly, but not solely, those in positions of authority and influence— to give serious consideration to the above. The genocide is on hold, but the settler colonial project isn’t. It is our collective responsibility to rally around a radical decolonial political vision in Palestine, the region and the world.
